Adebayor to Manchester City: Deja Vu?

(Photo by Jamie McDonald/Getty Images)

If reports are to be believed, Emmanuel Adebayor is discussing personal terms with Manchester City at this very moment. This sale, while sudden, will provide no shocks to the Arsenal faithful.

Adebayor divided Arsenal supporters' opinion, especially during the previous season. The goals dried up, relatively speaking, and his body language did little to appease many fans, who continued to boo him throughout the season.

Perhaps the point of no return was reached during an interview given to Football Focus, where he stated that he felt unappreciated by a large majority of the supporters.

All said and done, Adebayor was quite the character. His celebrations were quite entertaining, and he has plenty of ability, with his goals against Newcastle and Villareal attributing to that fact.

Another fact is that despite all of his talent, Arsene Wenger was seemingly ready to do business with the cash-rich Manchester City, who currently look to have a fetish for signing attack-minded players. 

Due to the Gunners' checkered past with strikers, Adebayor's transfer seems all too familiar for Arsenal supporters.

Nicolas Anelka was a prodigious talent when he left Arsenal for Real Madrid; he was young and scored plenty of goals, yet his attitude was questionable. He went on strike before securing a transfer in excess of £20 million to the Madrid-based side in 1999.

Then his replacement, Thierry Henry, earned the status of a legend at the club before leaving rather abruptly to Barcelona in the summer of 2007 after eight successful seasons with the Gunners.

Henry's last season at Arsenal was marked by injuries, like Adebayor's last season, and he was never quite able to regain his form as Wenger decided to cash in on him in a £16 million deal.

In the summer of 2006, Henry was constantly linked to Barcelona, but he opted to stay at Arsenal despite all the speculation and signed a new contract, much like Adebayor did last season, which saw him earning more at Arsenal while getting a considerable signing-on fee.

Arsenal fans must feel a sense of déjà vu as the Togolese forward makes his move to Manchester City—the player who he replaced had left suddenly, while that player's predecessor had a considerable number of attitude problems, which have made him a nomad as far as the footballing world is concerned.

Arsenal fans would have paid for Adebayor's flight ticket had they been told that the forward will be shipped off to any club this summer for a fee close to £25 million. 

Still, considering that he will reportedly earn a whopping £170,000-a-week at the Middle Eastlands club, Adebayor can probably afford his own plane ticket.

Certainly, some respected writers and pundits might now question Arsenal's "ambitions," as they seem to be getting rid of their "best" striker in Adebayor. But Arsenal fans know that Wenger might already have a replacement in mind, with Bordeaux's Marouane Chamakh high on his wish list.

A reputed Arsenal blog, East Lower, while analyzing this transfer, queried:

"To 'reward' Adebayor for scoring 30 goals, Arsenal doubled his salary last summer. And now, to ‘reward’ him for being 50 percent as prolific, City intends to double it again. Half as good—twice as well-rewarded. Now really, what kind of industry does that?"

It's the footballing industry, and in this industry, two companies currently seem to be willing to pay anything it takes to ultimately make more money.

As for employees in this industry, like Emmanuel Adebayor, it's the chance to give up the Champions League for a "new, exciting project."

One wonders what sort of analogy Adebayor would give for Manchester City as he did with AC Milan.

One thing is for sure, though: He certainly won't be saying that getting a call from them is the same as getting one from Beyonce.

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